Space & Astronautics News

Here comes another asteroid! 2009 WC won't come to halfway between us & the Moon, like Friday's 2009 WJ6 but, traveling at ~6.8 km per second, and measuring between about 8.4 & 19 metres across, it's going to approach us at 6.6 average lunar distances. It's the closest currently known approach between now and March 16.

Atlantis/ISS: the Saturday STS-129 crew wakeup call is scheduled for 2:28 a.m. CDT (8:28 am UT).

Preparations for the second spacewalk of Atlantis’ STS-129 visit to the International Space Station, transfer of material between the spacecraft and talks with media representatives helped keep astronauts busy on Friday. - NASA

Troubleshooting continued on Atlantis’ Orbiter Communication Adapter after difficulties with transmission of high-data-rate material. On the station, change out of circuit boards in the Human Research Facility rack was completed. - NASA

Foreman and Bresnik, the Saturday spacewalkers, prepared spacesuits and configured tools for their excursion. Both crews spent an hour shortly before bedtime reviewing spacewalk procedures. The movement of materials between Atlantis and the station continued to go well Friday. Well over half the mission’s transfer activities have been completed. -...

Inside the International Space Station’s Unity node, crew members have been routing a slew of cables, hoses and fluid lines to prepare for the arrival of the Tranquility node next year. The two-day task of outfitting Unity was completed shortly after 3 p.m. EST. - NASA

Uh oh, nasty asteroid coming our way today half way between us and the Moon....data follows

NASA's Centennial Challenges program awarded $350,000 this week to a pair of designers who developed concepts for more flexible space gloves that could make it easier for astronauts to perform tasks. - NASA http://www.nasa.gov/home...

Asteroid 2009 WJ6 makes a very close approach to us today at half the average distance from the Earth to the Moon (0.0012 AU or about 111,547 miles). Its diameter is between about 27.6 and 62.3 feet, and it is traveling very fast (it's the fastest predicted near Earth object between now and Dec 25) at about 40,802 mph.

Image: Nov 19 - In the Qwest airlock, astronaut Barry E. Wilmore (center), STS-129 pilot, assists crewmates Robert L. Satcher Jr. (left) and Mike Foreman, mission specialists, in getting ready for their flight day four space walk; 200 KB, jpg, 1400 x 930 - credits: NASA

I'd like to post a plug here for my friend singer Roxy Batz, a brilliant new songwriter. This is great stuff http://www.myspace.com/roxybat...

Expedition 22/23 crew on Twitter: Soichi Noguchi @Astro_Soichi 野口聡一さん、ようこそ！ Tim Creamer @astro_tj Nice to see you here!

The space station crew had to wait until ventilation was restored before going back to sleep. To make up for the sleep they lost reacting to the alarm, the sleep period was extended to 4:28 a.m. EST. Today's wake-up music was "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge, played at 4:28 a.m. EST for Atlantis Mission Specialist Leland Melvin. - NASA

Tomorrow, they will lift the carrier from Atlantis' payload bay, hand it off to the space station robotic arm and install it on the outside of the station. The combined crews of the shuttle and station also will speak to seven different media outlets today. And at the end of the day, Mike Foreman and Randy Bresnik will "campout" in the station's...

The nearly 14,000-pound ELC will be lifted away from Atlantis on Saturday, handed off to the space station robotic arm, and installed on the station’s Starboard 3 truss upper outboard Payload Attach System. The carrier contains spare parts that will help sustain space station operations into the future. - NASA

Just after 7 a.m. EST, space shuttle Atlantis Commander Charles Hobaugh and Mission Specialist Leland Melvin used the shuttle robotic arm to grasp the Express Logistics Carrier (ELC) 2, located in Atlantis’ payload bay. The task originally had been planned for this afternoon but the crew opted to do it early. - NASA

The initial cause for the false depressurization indication is under evaluation. Mission control Capcom Frank Lien told station Commander Frank De Winne it might have originated with the Poisk mini-research module that docked to the station earlier this month. - NASA

It took about an hour to reactivate the ventilation fans and stabilize the station atmosphere following the incident. The crews have been warned to watch out for pockets where carbon dioxide has accumulated. - NASA

An erroneous indication of a rapid depressurization led to the automatic shutdown of ventilation fans throughout the station, which stirred up dust and led to a false smoke detection alarm in the European Space Agency’s Columbus laboratory. - NASA

An alarm woke the crews aboard space shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station at 8:36 p.m. EST Thursday. Flight controllers in Houston, Europe and Russia quickly concluded the alarm was false. - NASA

Space Shuttle Atlantis taken from the International Space Station (ISS) with an 800mm lens during its rendezvous pitch maneuver (RPM) on Nov. 18 shows the topside of the forward cabin and part of the cargo bay. Docking occurred at 10:51 a.m. (CST) on Nov. 18, 2009; 1400 x 931, .jpg, 156 KB; credit: NASA

ISS & Atlantis' payload bay are featured in this image photographed by an STS-129 crew member as Atlantis and the station approach each other during rendezvous and docking activities on flight day three. Docking occurred at 10:51 a.m. (CST) on Nov. 18, 2009; 1400 x 930, .jpg, 144 KB; credit: NASA

Dr Satcher on the station's robotic arm as the spacecraft fly over the north Atlantic ocean; images: NASA TV

Foreman and Bresnik are scheduled for that second spacewalk on Saturday while Satcher is to do the third spacewalk on Monday with Bresnik. Inside the station, Commander Frank De Winne and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams started work in the Harmony Node on data, power and cooling lines and air flow connections for Tranquility. - NASA

The get-ahead task, completed after spacewalkers visited the airlock to pick up required tools and recharge Foreman’s oxygen, involved installation of a Payload Attach System (PAS). It was one of three such jobs planned for the second spacewalk. - NASA

Satcher lubricated the latching end effector on the Japanese robotic arm and a similar attachment device on the station’s mobile base system. They were almost two hours ahead when the last scheduled task was completed. - NASA

STS-129 EVA 1: Foreman installed cables for a space-to-ground antenna on the Destiny laboratory and replaced a handrail on the Unity node with one having a bracket to route an ammonia cable for the Tranquility Node to be delivered next year. - NASA

NASA is offering a wealth of classroom resources that can be used to learn about the STS-129 space shuttle mission to the International Space Station. The page includes a mission overview, interactive games, topic articles for students, links to mission information, image galleries and classroom materials for educators. - NASA http://www.nasa.gov/audienc...

Mike Foreman is having problems with a connector, similar to those encountered in mission STS-128; image from his helmet camera: NASA TV

Franklin Chang Diaz, veteran NASA astronaut (7 Shuttle missions) wants to fuel the International Space Station and transport people to Mars with his plasma rocket. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatc... (there's an annoying pop up advertisement which you can remove after 7 seconds)